Mehmet Sander Dance Company was founded in 1990 by Mehmet Sander. It received many awards, including the Long Beach Public Arts Fund Artist′s Award for Mehmet’s performances and choreographies (1992-1993) and the Lester Horton Dance Award for the success of the company (1992-1993).

In the United States, Mehmet Sander and his company performed in many places such as Sushi Gallery (San Diego), Highways (Santa Monica), Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Los Angeles Festival (1993), Japan-American Theater and Alaska Performing Arts Center (Anchorage). The company participated in numerous events and festivals such as the Holland Dance Festival, New Moves in Europe Festival (Scotland), ICA – a National Look at Live Arts (UK), Klapstuk Festival (Belgium), Munich Dance Festival (Germany), Szene Festival Salzburg (Austria), Belluard Bolwerk International Festival (Sweden), Transform Copenhagen (Denmark), Istanbul Music Festival (Turkey) and Festival International de Danza (Brazil). Mehmet Sander′s work entitled “Inner Space” was presented by the Joffrey Ballet at prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institution. The Joffrey Ballet will present this piece again for its 50th year anniversary.

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The Dance History Project’s goal is to observe and preserve the history of dance making and performing in Southern California. The focus is on those events and artists, past and present, whose work has been important to the field of live professional dance in Southern California. It includes the contributions of dancers, companies, educators, presenters, artistic collaborators, historians, and critics. More...

Stella Matsuda: Carol Warner,one of the original dancers from Gloria Newman Dance Theater, a beautiful, incredible, and energy filled dancer died on February 12, 2018, in Maine. RIP

Debbie Kay: is Lily Aguilar still alive?
do you have any contact for her?
debbie

Debbie Kay: I recently came across a large collection of
16mm color films from the 1950's which
features various East LA dancers known
as La Paloma Dancers, some of the people
in the films include: Lily Aguilar, Odelia, [...]

Stella Matsuda: Don Bondi, my friend and dance partner for over 50 years, passed away on Aug. 8, 2017. It's a personal loss to me but to the dance community. He will be missed.

Judith Aaen: I worked with Lois Ellyn for years. So happy to read her bio and see her beautiful photos

Maria Pilar Chacón-Galtman: I'm 63 and had the honor of taking dance lessons with Corina Valdez and Lily Aguilar. Such fond memories. I also took private lessons with Miss Aguilars daughters, Rosemarie and Blanca.

Barbara: I'm 67 and danced with Lily Aguilar and her daughter from 5 to 15. It all started in the Belvedere Park Gym.